hoyi's Weblog

原文出處：p.s. Peter Shankman : The Greatest Customer Service Story Ever Told, Starring Morton’s Steakhouse


【Foreword from translator】譯者序 by hoyi

I happened to read this short interesting article last night, enjoyed it very much.

昨夜意外連到這篇有趣的短文，閱讀過程十分愉快。


As an ordinary bank teller, I’ve been told that perfect customer satisfaction is somehow an ultimate goal of my career, that is, shall the customer smite you on the right cheek, you must smile and turn to him the left also.

身為一個平凡的銀行員，我向來被教育「顧客滿意是我們最終的目標」。這句話常被解釋為，假如客人甩了你右臉一耳光，轉過左臉來讓他打也是剛好而已。

No. It’s not like that. Sacrifice of dignity never will earn the corporate satisfied customers. Only innovative and well-organized employee training program / customer service plan / CRM system will.

我不這麼認為。犧牲尊嚴永遠不會讓顧客滿意。創新而完善的員工訓練課程／顧客服務計劃／顧客關係管理系統才是真正的要訣。

Anyway, let’s get to the story. I shall thank the original author, Mr. Peter Shankman, for kindly authorizing me to translate this article into Chinese. Shall there be any points that do not comply with the original article and / or over-interpretation, it’s the translator who to be blamed.

總之，我們還是開始看故事吧。我要在這裡謝謝原作者，Peter Shankman先生，大方授權我將這篇短文譯成中文。倘若有任何與原文不符之處及／或過度詮釋，譯者承擔所有責任。



The Greatest Customer Service Story Ever Told, Starring Morton’s Steakhouse

史上最佳客服故事──主角：莫頓牛排館（Morton’s Steakhouse）


The following story is entirely true. More importantly, I swear on my entire professional reputation and all I hold dear to me that the story below was in no way staged, planned in advance, or in any way faked. This is real. And most importantly: This is AMAZING.

以下的情節絕無虛構。更重要的是，我願意拿我的職業聲望和全副身家發誓，整件事在事先全無籌備、計劃、排練，更沒有造假，通通是真人真事。最重要的是，它．超．級．帥．氣！


When my alarm clock went off at 3:30 this morning, I knew I was in for a long day. I was catching a 7am flight out of Newark to Tampa, Florida, for a lunch meeting in Clearwater, then heading back to Newark on a 5pm flight, getting me in around 8:10pm, and with any luck, to my apartment by 9 or so. We all have days like that, they happen from time to time.

早上三點半，鬧鐘響起，我知道這會是漫長的一天。我搭早上七點的班機從紐華克（Newark）飛往佛羅里達的坦帕（Tampa），然後到清水（Cleanwater）參加一場午餐會議。下午五點隨即回程，大約會在晚上八點十分抵達紐華克，運氣好的話，九點左右可以進家門。每個人都偶爾難免有這種大忙日子。


Made my flight, everything was on time, got to my lunch meeting. Because of the training/workout schedule I’m on, my first meal of the day was that lunch. Was fine, I had a healthy piece of grouper, and a very successful lunch meeting that lasted just about three hours.

上了飛機，行程全部準時，及時抵達開會地點。因為我正實施健身計劃的關係，一天當中的第一餐通常是午餐。我吃了片對健康有益的深海魚，還不賴，會議也很順利地在三小時內結束。


By the time I got back to the airport, it was close to 4pm. Flight boarded at 4:30pm, and I knew that by the time I got home, I wouldn’t have time to stop for dinner anywhere, and certainly didn’t want to grab fast food at either airport. When I got on the plane, my stomach was a rumbling a bit, and I had visions of a steak in my head.

抵達機場準備回程的時候，已經是下午快四點鐘了。登機時間是四點半，我心裡明白，回到家的時候，我絕對沒時間在任何地方停下來吃個晚餐；卻也不想在起降的機場隨便吃點速食果腹。登機時我的胃已經開始翻絞，腦袋裡充滿對牛排的幻想。


As I’ve tweeted and mentioned countless times before, I’m a bit of a steak lover. I go out of my way to try steakhouses all around the world when I can, and it’s one of the reasons, no doubt, that my trainer at my gym is kept in business. But it’s all good – give and take. Over the past few years,

I’ve developed an affinity for Morton’s Steakhouses, and if I’m doing business in a city which has one, I’ll try to schedule a dinner there if I can. I’m a frequent diner, and Morton’s knows it. They have a spectacular Customer Relations Management system in place, as well as a spectacular social media team, and they know when I call from my mobile number who I am, and that I eat at their restaurants regularly. Never underestimate the value of a good CRM system.

我在推特上常常「推」到，也經常談到，我算得上是個牛排愛好者。我行經世界各地時，只要情況允許，往往會為了一嘗牛排而特別繞路；我的健身教練能保住他的飯碗，無疑必須感謝我的這個習慣。

過去這幾年，我對莫頓牛排館（Morton’s Steakhouses）頗多愛顧，若我能撥空、身處的城市又恰好有莫頓的分店，我會擠出時間在那裡吃頓晚餐。我是常客，莫頓也知道這一點。他們有套專門的CRM系統（Customer Relations Management system，顧客關係管理系統）、一支專業的社交媒體網路團隊。我用手機撥進店裡的時候，他們叫得出我的名字；也知道我經常光顧。他們從不低估良好CRM系統的價值。


Back to my flight. As we were about to take off, I jokingly tweeted the following:

我們把話題拉回我的班機上吧。起飛之前，我玩笑式地在推特上留了下列的話：


【圖說】Peter Shankman（譯註：原作者）：嘿，莫頓！能不能替我外帶一份紅屋牛排，咱們約在紐華克機場見面？我兩小時之後會降落。謝啦！


Let’s understand: I was joking. I had absolutely no expectations of anything from that Tweet. It’s like how we Tweet “Dear Winter, please stop, love Peter,” or something similar.

說明在先：我只是在開玩笑。我完全沒想過這則推特會造成什麼影響。這就和在推特上嚷嚷「親愛的冬天，行行好快過去吧。愛你的Peter」一類的話沒啥兩樣。


I shut off my phone and we took off.

我把手機關機，然後我們起飛了。


Two and a half hours later, we landed at EWR. The fact that a flight got into EWR on time during summer thunderstorm season is a miracle in itself, but that’s not important right now.

兩個半小時之後，我們在紐華克降落。在常有夏日雷暴的季節裡，班機還能準時降落，這事本身就是個奇蹟，但這現在不重要。


Walking off the plane, I headed towards the area where the drivers wait, as my assistant Meagan had reserved me a car home.

下機之後，我直接走向司機們接機的區域。我的助理Meagan替我叫了一輛車載我回家。


Looking for my driver, I saw my name, waved to him, and started walking to the door of EWR, like I’d done hundreds of times before.

我四處張望尋找來接我的司機，然後我看見寫著我名字的牌子，對那人揮揮手，習以為常地朝著機場大門走去。


“Um, Mr. Shankman,” he said.

「呃，Shankman先生，」他開口叫我。


I turned around.

我轉過身。


“There’s a surprise for you here.”

「這兒有個給你的驚喜。」


I turned to see that the driver was standing next to someone else, who I just assumed was another driver he was talking to. Then I noticed the “someone else” was in a tuxedo.

我轉過身，發現司機身邊站著另一個人。剛剛我還以為那只是另一位司機，正在和他聊天。然後，我發現，這位「另一個人」穿著整套的燕尾服。


And he was carrying a Morton’s bag.

……而且手上拎著個莫頓的袋子。


Now understand… I’m a born-and-raised New York City kid. It takes a lot to surprise me. A LOT. I see celebrities on the Subway. I see movies being shot outside my apartment, and fake gunfire from any given CSI show, five days a week. I’m immune to surprises.

我明白了……我是個土生土長的紐約客。要讓我大吃一驚真的很難。非常難。在地鐵上看見名人那是家常便飯，我的公寓門外也曾成為電影場景，甚至一週五天都能聽見CSI裡的假槍響。基本上，我對驚喜免疫。


Except when they’re like this.

但這種狀況除外。


Alex, from Morton’s Hackensack walks up to me, introduces himself, and hands me a bag. He proceeds to tell me that he’d heard I was hungry, and inside is a 24 oz. Porterhouse steak, an order of Colossal Shrimp, a side of potatoes, one of Morton’s famous round things of bread, two napkins, and silverware.

莫頓Hackensack分店的Alex走近、自我介紹，交給我一只袋子。他接著解釋，他得知我餓了，袋子裡裝的是24盎司的紅屋牛排，一份大蝦，配菜是馬鈴薯加上莫頓著名的圓麵包，兩條餐巾，還有銀器。


He hands me the bag.

他把袋子交給我。


I. Was. Floored.

我．徹．底．懵．了。


Let’s make sure we’re clear on a few things here…

我們先來搞清楚一些事情。


1) I was joking in my Tweet. I never, ever expected anything to come of it other than a few giggles.

第一：我只是在我的推特上開玩笑。我從來、完全沒有料到除了幾句「呵呵」「哈哈」之外還能得到什麼回應。


2) Morton’s Hackensack is 23.5 miles away from EWR, according to Google Maps. That meant that in just under three hours, someone at Morton’s Corporate had to see my tweet, get authorization to do this stunt, get in touch with Morton’s Hackensack, and place the order. Then Morton’s Hackensack had to cook the order, get it boxed up, and get a server to get in his car, and drive to Newark Airport (never an easy task, no matter where you’re coming from) then, (and this is the part the continues to blow me away,) while all this was happening, track down my flight, where I was landing, and be there when I walked out of security!

第二：根據Google地圖顯示，莫頓的Hackensack分店離紐華克機場有23.5哩遠（譯註：約37.8公里。參照：台北捷運淡水－新店線全長僅約34公里，從台北市上國道一號的話，37.8公里都已經過了楊梅了…）。

這表示，在三小時之內，莫頓必須有人看見我在推特上留的話，獲准上演這齣好戲、聯絡上Hackensack分店、把菜點好。然後莫頓Hackensack分店得照單烹調、打包完成、安排一位服務人員跳上車子、飛馳到紐華克機場（不論你從哪裡出發，這絕不是件簡單任務），然後（接下來也就是徹底把我打敗的部分）在做這些事情的同時，還得追蹤我的飛機，確認我在哪裡降落，在我出關的時候逮個正著！


Are you taking this all in? Because it happened to me, and I still can’t even fathom it.

你搞得清楚嗎？這發生在我身上，而我還是一頭霧水啊！


Think about all the things that could have gone wrong: My flight could have been delayed or diverted. I could have exited out a different location. (Had I taken the AirTrain and not had a driver, I never would have even exited that way!) I could have just missed him all together, I could have landed early, etc., etc…

試想中間可能出什麼差錯：我搭乘的班機可能延遲、可能轉降。我可能從不同地點出關（假使我選擇搭乘航站列車而不是聘請司機，我根本不會從那個方向出關！）我也可能終究和他擦身而過，我可能提早降落離開，等等等......


I have no doubt that countless companies think like that. They think along the lines of “Oh, too many logistics. That’ll never work,” and they leave it at that.

無數的公司無疑可能這樣想：「噢，太多變數了。行不通的。」然後就攤手放棄。


But what if it does work? What if it happens, and it works perfectly, and it shocks the living hell out of the person they do it to? Like it did tonight?

但假如這成功了呢？假如成功了，而且所有細節都紋絲合縫，讓接受這份驚喜的人驚得瞠目結舌呢？就像今晚發生的事？


And what if that person’s first thought is to make it public? Like I did tonight?

假如這個人的第一個念頭是把整個故事公諸於世呢？就像我今晚做的這樣？


We live in a world where everyone you meet is a broadcaster. Look around. Think of all your friends, all your colleagues. Do you know anyone anymore who doesn’t have a camera in their phone, or anyone who doesn’t have a Facebook or Twitter account?

我們住在一個人人皆媒體的世界。極目四望，想想你所有的朋友、你所有的同事。你認識的人裡，有誰的手機還不能拍照？又或者有誰沒有Facebook或推特的帳號呢？（譯註：請考慮這是美國的狀況。XD）


As I say in my book over and over again, customer service is no longer about telling people how great you are. It’s about producing amazing moments in time, and letting those moments become the focal point of how amazing you are, told not by you, but by the customer who you thrilled. They tell their friends, and the trust level goes up at a factor of a thousand. Think about it: Who do you trust more? An advertisement, or a friend telling you how awesome something is?

就像我在書中一再提到的，顧客服務早已不是單方面地告訴顧客你有多傑出。顧客服務是製造驚喜時刻，讓這些驚喜時刻成為你有多出色的焦點；不是由你自己空口說白話，而是讓滿懷驚喜的顧客替你傳播。他們告訴朋友，信任會讓效果成長千倍。想一想：你比較相信什麼？廣告的大力宣傳，還是朋友的誠心讚美？


Of course, I immediately tweeted out what happened:

當然，我也立刻在推特上說出發生了什麼事。



【圖說】Peter Shankman：我．的．老．天．啊。太不可思議了。莫頓的人帶著一份牛排出現在紐華克機場！！


And sure enough, Twitter lit up like a bottle rocket. Click the image to expand it, it’s worth reading.
而可以想見的，推特上爆出一片譁然。看看下面的圖吧，內容值得一讀。




When I got home, I actually looked inside the bag at what Morton’s gave me, and again, was blown away:
當我回到家，打開袋子看到莫頓準備了些什麼給我，立刻又大吃一驚。




And as to be expected, the food was amazing.

唯一意料之中的，東西好吃到不行。


Of course, there immediately came a few tweets from the other side of the camp, specifically calling out that I have over 100k Twitter followers, and if I didn’t, this never would have happened:

當然，推特上也馬上出現了反面的意見，指稱這之所以會發生，是因為我在推特上有超過十萬個讀者；若非如此，上述的故事就不會發生了：



But you know what? I don’t think that’s the case. I don’t think it’s about my follower numbers. I think it’s about Morton’s knowing I’m a good customer, who frequents their establishments regularly. If you look at their Twitter stream, Morton’s is known for always being on the ball, thanking those who mention they’re eating there. Just a recent few tweets from Morton’s proves this:

但你知道嗎？我並不這麼想。我不認為這和我的讀者數量有關係。我認為這是因為莫頓知道我是個經常光顧的好顧客。你若仔細看看他們的推特串（Twitter Stream），就會知道莫頓向來以反應敏銳聞名，顧客提到在莫頓用餐，常可以立即獲得致謝。最近的幾則莫頓推特可以證明：




So I don’t think the number of Twitter followers I have played a big (if any) part in this story.

因此我不認為我有多少讀者，在此事中發揮了什麼（假如有的話）影響力。


So… What can we learn?

所以……我們能學到什麼？


Stay on top of what people are saying about you. Respond accordingly. Perhaps most importantly, have a chain of command in place that actually lets you do these things in real time. Had Morton’s had to get permission to make this happen, at 5:10pm on a Wednesday night, there’s no way it ever would have.

密切注意人們對你的評論，準確回應。而或許最重要的是一套良好的授權系統，讓你能在最短時間內作出因應。假如週三傍晚五點，莫頓做這件事還得經過層層批准，這故事就永不會發生。


Complete and utter respect and admiration to Morton’s The Steakhouse. This was the amazingly gooey icing on an already great day. Thanks, Morton’s.

莫頓的作法令我深深地、徹底懾服。這替我已經很美好的一天更加錦上添花。謝啦，莫頓牛排館。


PS: Possibly the greatest part of the story? NASA the Wonder Cat, (brother of Karma, who passed away a few weeks ago,) got a very unexpected dinner – not of cat food, but of several small bites of a Porterhouse steak from Morton’s Hackensack.

PS，也許這是整個故事裡最棒的一部分？寵貓NASA（他是幾週前去世的Karma的兄弟！）得到了一份意想不到的晚餐──不是貓糧，而是莫頓Hackensack分店的紅屋牛排邊邊的碎肉吶。